Jordan Brown Strain Theory
November 20, 2013
Juvenile crimes are the various offenses that children under the age of eight-teen commit. The acts involved in these crimes are called juvenile delinquency. The issue of juvenile delinquency has been a rising issue in the American society for decades. As we take a look into the factors behind this problem we will also look into what changes have been made to the juvenile justice system to combat this. Factors behind juvenile delinquency is said to be mental illness and substance abuse which are the main contributors. It is said to be that roughly thirty to ninety percent of detained and incarcerated juveniles have been found to have some sort of mental illness. In the past, there were times when these …show more content…
crimes would escalate or get more violent. This necessitated changes in the policies by law enforcement officers to meet the growing problem. Among these changes were the impositions of juvenile transfer laws, prosecutorial discretion and even capital punishment for these juveniles. In the case of Jordan Brown, it is one of the rare cases in which he does not fall into the thirty-ninety percent quartile range of mental problems. He also does not fall under the category of a substance abuser. Jordan Brown is an eleven year old boy who allegedly killed his stepmother to be. In February of 2009, a four year old daughter of Kenzie Houk came running out of her house screaming her mother was dead. A local tree cutting service heard the cries from the child and immediately got the address of the home to call 911. State police found the body of a pregnant twenty-six year old, Kenzie Houk, lying in her bed dead from a shotgun blast to the back of the head in the small town of Wampum, Pennsylvania. The search for her killer ended quickly in utter despair. The murderer was eleven year old Jordan Brown, son of the victim’s fiancé. Local weather reports had roughly one inch of snow on the ground since the night before and there were no traces of footprints near the house except ones made by the father who left for work that night before the autopsy proved she was dead. The shooting occurred sometime after the father had left for work, approximately 3:30a.m, leaving only Jordan Brown and Houk’s two daughters at the ages of four and seven at the home. Police investigators found a shotgun shell dropped along a path in which Jordan walked along with Houk’s oldest daughter to catch the school bus after the shooting. The shotgun belonged to Jordan; it was a gift he had received on Christmas a year prior to the shooting. The father, Chris Brown, bought him the gun because the two of them would go hunting together. The gun was locked away and only taken out when the two of them would go out on their hunting trips. They also found the shotgun with residue from the bullet, in Jordan’s room along with that same residue on his shirt and pants. Before the shooting occurred a few days prior, Houk’s nephew reportedly heard Jordan commenting on murdering the Houk family. Reports claim Jordan stated “if I had I gun I would pop Kenzie and her two girls.” When asked about the remark Jordan responded with a simple “no I never said that.” Also a testimony from Houk’s oldest daughter had said that she saw Jordan earlier in the day and he was holding a gun.
A possible motive for the homicide or probable behavior has also been provided by the prosecutor in the case. It was a blended family, and the alleged juvenile was said to be jealous of the fiancé getting married to his father and all the attention she was receiving for the baby that was due in two weeks. He felt as if he was being mistreated by the fiancé who reportedly favorited her own daughters more than him. She would allegedly not give him any attention and only pay mind or take interest in her own two kids. Lastly, the parents decided to move him out of his room so that they could make more room for the new baby. As an eleven year old boy it is hard to cope with all of these new changes at home and this was essentially the last straw for Jordan. This case is an unusual one because the murder occurred in Pennsylvania and the law states that any homicide will be conducted in an adult court room, regardless of the age of the offender. The offender is one of the country’s youngest suspects to be charged with homicide. Jordan spent the next three years in a juvenile detention center in Erie, Pennsylvania in hopes that his lawyer would move the case to a juvenile hearing instead of an adult hearing. John Bongivengo of the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office states:
“In the case of homicide, my choice is either to charge Jordan as an adult, or don’t charge him at all. Not charging him at all? That would not be feasible.”(Bongivengo, 2010) In Bongivengo’s perspective, he has to charge Jordan; he has no other options due to state law. But many people are arguing saying that twelve is much too young to have a life sentence. Pennsylvania has the most juveniles sentenced to life in parole than any other state in the U.S. Lawrence Steinberg of Temple University had some comments on the possible sentencing stating:
“I think the judge’s decision in this case is both disappointing, and I think, misinformed. The judge is saying in order to be tried as a juvenile you need to admit that you’ve done the crime. That doesn’t seem quite right to me. A child’s brain isn’t fully developed especially in area that controls decision making, risk taking and impulsive control.” (Steinberg, 2010)
Eventually, Browns lawyer successfully argued to move the court hearing to a juvenile court room. If the trial had not been moved to the juvenile court system and it stayed at the adult court room, Brown would have faced the charges of a life sentence without parole. Instead, he was found to be an adjudicated delinquent, which means he was found responsible for the deaths of Kenzie and her unborn child. Jordan will receive treatment and his progress will be reviewed in six month intervals.
“Lawrence County Judge John Hodge found the now-14-year-old Jordan Brown delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the deaths of 26-year-old Kenzie Houk and her unborn child. The judge closed the trial, held about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, to the media and all but close family members because of the boy 's age during the killings.” (Mandak, 2012)
The defendant’s lawyer, Stephen Colafella stated that “it is much too early to say if he would appeal the judge’s ruling on the official verdict of first degree murder and criminal homicide charges.” (Colafella, 2012) Also, Prosecutor Anthony Krastek had some words to say and commented on the verdict exclaiming ”it was important because it would now allow the child to receive the medical attention he needs such as counseling and other treatments the child did not receive prior to the court’s verdict because the family would not accept the boys guilt.” (Krastek, 2012) Brown’s sentence will have him in an undisclosed treatment center until the age of twenty-one where he will be released based on progress of the therapeutic treatments he will receive. The father of Jordan still felt that his son was not guilty and made it appoint to see his son found set free. He travels a four hour round trip drive every day to visit his son in the detention center and trusts that his son is not responsible. He states “I know my son. I 've talked to him numerous times in depth about what happened and ...if he knew anything about it, if he was involved, he would have told me by now," Brown said. "Not only that, but keep in mind, [he was] 11 years old when this happened, now 14. In the environment that he 's in, a child like that is going to break down and his story has not changed from day one."(Brown, 2013) On May 9, 2013 the delinquency finding was appealed by the defense, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a decision that overturned the finding. The boy’s lawyer said he was pleased but not shocked due to the insufficient evidence against the young boy and that there may have been other people involved in the execution. He states “he had always felt that the state had insufficient evidence against Brown and that other people may have been involved in the shooting.” (Colafella, 2013) He was pleased but not shocked at the overturned verdict. The Attorney General’s office asked the Superior Court to reopen the arguments, but they declined to do so in July, leaving the prosecution to appeal to the state Supreme Court. However, the defense team appealed the guilty verdict on the arguments that key evidence was unsupported by facts. According to the Superior Court decision issued in May 2013, a key piece of evidence was that there were no unaccounted-for footprints in the snow around the home in Wampum that the Browns shared with Houk and her two daughters. Leaving the initial ruling that Brown would stay in the juvenile detention center until August of 2018.
After a full analysis of the case, I believe that the only possible theory that incorporates in Jordan Brown’s case is strain theory.
Strain theory applies because Jordan was under the impression he was being detached from the family or he was not given the attention he needed to receive. At the age of eleven, a young child is going through emotions and needs parental figures to provide unconditional love and affection towards which provides structure. Jordan, being in a blended family obviously felt he was not given the same affection that his future step mother had been giving to her own children which caused him to react the way that he did. He felt he was being neglected which caused him to become stressed. Stressed to a point where the only way things would ever go back to being the same was if he killed Kenzie and the baby. Being in a blended family caused Jordan to feel unappreciated of Kenzie Houk and it was a difficult time for him to cope with the changes at home. This was a particularly hard time for Jordan, who not only had to deal with his new step mom and step sisters, but also had to deal with another new born child which would eventually make him feel unimportant and out of the family. And of course children are extremely sensitive when it comes to any changes at home, and changes in family structure can take their toll. If it is not handled in a proper fashion, this can cause tremendous negative impacts on their personality. I believe that the end result of the death of Kenzie and her baby was because of the unstable structure at home and it caused Jordan to
snap.
At the initial hearing in which the case presented itself, I felt as if the courts were way too strict to hold the case in an adult court room. Jordan was eleven years old at the time of the crime, how can a judge rule the defendant guilty with a sentence of life without parole? At age eleven? How young is too young to be convicted of murder? I believe that Jordan should be kept in a psychiatric mental institution and get mental evaluations until treatment and medication proves that he is no longer a danger to himself or society and base his release time off of that. After the trial had been successfully moved into the juvenile court room, I feel as if the Judges final verdict was more than reasonable. Jordan will now face up to ten years in a juvenile detention center where he will receive all the treatment and medication he needs to get better.
Works Cited
Canning, Andrea. "Jordan Brown Murder Case Takes Emotional Toll." Abcnews.go.com. N.p., 28 Apr. 2010. Web.
Chenn, Stephania. "Boy,12, Faces Grown Up Murder Charges." Cnn.com. N.p., 15 Mar. 2010. Web.
Crimesider Staff. "Jordan Brown, Boy Accused of Murder At Age 11, Found Guilty." Cbsnews.com. N.p., 13 Apr. 2012. Web.
Houy, Lori. "Pa. Superior Court Reverses Ruling in Jordan Brown Case." Wpxi.com. N.p., 9 May 2013. Web.
Mandak, Joe. "Jordan Brown Guilty: 11-Year Old Murdered Dad 'S Pregnant Fiance, Judge Rules." Huffingtonpost.com. N.p., 13 Apr. 2012. Web.
Juvenile crimes are the various offenses that children under the age of eight-teen commit. The acts involved in these crimes are called juvenile delinquency. The issue of juvenile delinquency has been a rising issue in the American society for decades. As we take a look into the factors behind this problem we will also look into what changes have been made to the juvenile justice system to combat this. Factors behind juvenile delinquency is said to be mental illness and substance abuse which are the main contributors. It is said to be that roughly thirty to ninety percent of detained and incarcerated juveniles have been found to have some sort of mental illness. In the past, there were times when these …show more content…
crimes would escalate or get more violent. This necessitated changes in the policies by law enforcement officers to meet the growing problem. Among these changes were the impositions of juvenile transfer laws, prosecutorial discretion and even capital punishment for these juveniles. In the case of Jordan Brown, it is one of the rare cases in which he does not fall into the thirty-ninety percent quartile range of mental problems. He also does not fall under the category of a substance abuser. Jordan Brown is an eleven year old boy who allegedly killed his stepmother to be. In February of 2009, a four year old daughter of Kenzie Houk came running out of her house screaming her mother was dead. A local tree cutting service heard the cries from the child and immediately got the address of the home to call 911. State police found the body of a pregnant twenty-six year old, Kenzie Houk, lying in her bed dead from a shotgun blast to the back of the head in the small town of Wampum, Pennsylvania. The search for her killer ended quickly in utter despair. The murderer was eleven year old Jordan Brown, son of the victim’s fiancé. Local weather reports had roughly one inch of snow on the ground since the night before and there were no traces of footprints near the house except ones made by the father who left for work that night before the autopsy proved she was dead. The shooting occurred sometime after the father had left for work, approximately 3:30a.m, leaving only Jordan Brown and Houk’s two daughters at the ages of four and seven at the home. Police investigators found a shotgun shell dropped along a path in which Jordan walked along with Houk’s oldest daughter to catch the school bus after the shooting. The shotgun belonged to Jordan; it was a gift he had received on Christmas a year prior to the shooting. The father, Chris Brown, bought him the gun because the two of them would go hunting together. The gun was locked away and only taken out when the two of them would go out on their hunting trips. They also found the shotgun with residue from the bullet, in Jordan’s room along with that same residue on his shirt and pants. Before the shooting occurred a few days prior, Houk’s nephew reportedly heard Jordan commenting on murdering the Houk family. Reports claim Jordan stated “if I had I gun I would pop Kenzie and her two girls.” When asked about the remark Jordan responded with a simple “no I never said that.” Also a testimony from Houk’s oldest daughter had said that she saw Jordan earlier in the day and he was holding a gun.
A possible motive for the homicide or probable behavior has also been provided by the prosecutor in the case. It was a blended family, and the alleged juvenile was said to be jealous of the fiancé getting married to his father and all the attention she was receiving for the baby that was due in two weeks. He felt as if he was being mistreated by the fiancé who reportedly favorited her own daughters more than him. She would allegedly not give him any attention and only pay mind or take interest in her own two kids. Lastly, the parents decided to move him out of his room so that they could make more room for the new baby. As an eleven year old boy it is hard to cope with all of these new changes at home and this was essentially the last straw for Jordan. This case is an unusual one because the murder occurred in Pennsylvania and the law states that any homicide will be conducted in an adult court room, regardless of the age of the offender. The offender is one of the country’s youngest suspects to be charged with homicide. Jordan spent the next three years in a juvenile detention center in Erie, Pennsylvania in hopes that his lawyer would move the case to a juvenile hearing instead of an adult hearing. John Bongivengo of the Lawrence County District Attorney’s Office states:
“In the case of homicide, my choice is either to charge Jordan as an adult, or don’t charge him at all. Not charging him at all? That would not be feasible.”(Bongivengo, 2010) In Bongivengo’s perspective, he has to charge Jordan; he has no other options due to state law. But many people are arguing saying that twelve is much too young to have a life sentence. Pennsylvania has the most juveniles sentenced to life in parole than any other state in the U.S. Lawrence Steinberg of Temple University had some comments on the possible sentencing stating:
“I think the judge’s decision in this case is both disappointing, and I think, misinformed. The judge is saying in order to be tried as a juvenile you need to admit that you’ve done the crime. That doesn’t seem quite right to me. A child’s brain isn’t fully developed especially in area that controls decision making, risk taking and impulsive control.” (Steinberg, 2010)
Eventually, Browns lawyer successfully argued to move the court hearing to a juvenile court room. If the trial had not been moved to the juvenile court system and it stayed at the adult court room, Brown would have faced the charges of a life sentence without parole. Instead, he was found to be an adjudicated delinquent, which means he was found responsible for the deaths of Kenzie and her unborn child. Jordan will receive treatment and his progress will be reviewed in six month intervals.
“Lawrence County Judge John Hodge found the now-14-year-old Jordan Brown delinquent, the juvenile court equivalent of a guilty verdict, in the deaths of 26-year-old Kenzie Houk and her unborn child. The judge closed the trial, held about 45 miles northwest of Pittsburgh, to the media and all but close family members because of the boy 's age during the killings.” (Mandak, 2012)
The defendant’s lawyer, Stephen Colafella stated that “it is much too early to say if he would appeal the judge’s ruling on the official verdict of first degree murder and criminal homicide charges.” (Colafella, 2012) Also, Prosecutor Anthony Krastek had some words to say and commented on the verdict exclaiming ”it was important because it would now allow the child to receive the medical attention he needs such as counseling and other treatments the child did not receive prior to the court’s verdict because the family would not accept the boys guilt.” (Krastek, 2012) Brown’s sentence will have him in an undisclosed treatment center until the age of twenty-one where he will be released based on progress of the therapeutic treatments he will receive. The father of Jordan still felt that his son was not guilty and made it appoint to see his son found set free. He travels a four hour round trip drive every day to visit his son in the detention center and trusts that his son is not responsible. He states “I know my son. I 've talked to him numerous times in depth about what happened and ...if he knew anything about it, if he was involved, he would have told me by now," Brown said. "Not only that, but keep in mind, [he was] 11 years old when this happened, now 14. In the environment that he 's in, a child like that is going to break down and his story has not changed from day one."(Brown, 2013) On May 9, 2013 the delinquency finding was appealed by the defense, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court issued a decision that overturned the finding. The boy’s lawyer said he was pleased but not shocked due to the insufficient evidence against the young boy and that there may have been other people involved in the execution. He states “he had always felt that the state had insufficient evidence against Brown and that other people may have been involved in the shooting.” (Colafella, 2013) He was pleased but not shocked at the overturned verdict. The Attorney General’s office asked the Superior Court to reopen the arguments, but they declined to do so in July, leaving the prosecution to appeal to the state Supreme Court. However, the defense team appealed the guilty verdict on the arguments that key evidence was unsupported by facts. According to the Superior Court decision issued in May 2013, a key piece of evidence was that there were no unaccounted-for footprints in the snow around the home in Wampum that the Browns shared with Houk and her two daughters. Leaving the initial ruling that Brown would stay in the juvenile detention center until August of 2018.
After a full analysis of the case, I believe that the only possible theory that incorporates in Jordan Brown’s case is strain theory.
Strain theory applies because Jordan was under the impression he was being detached from the family or he was not given the attention he needed to receive. At the age of eleven, a young child is going through emotions and needs parental figures to provide unconditional love and affection towards which provides structure. Jordan, being in a blended family obviously felt he was not given the same affection that his future step mother had been giving to her own children which caused him to react the way that he did. He felt he was being neglected which caused him to become stressed. Stressed to a point where the only way things would ever go back to being the same was if he killed Kenzie and the baby. Being in a blended family caused Jordan to feel unappreciated of Kenzie Houk and it was a difficult time for him to cope with the changes at home. This was a particularly hard time for Jordan, who not only had to deal with his new step mom and step sisters, but also had to deal with another new born child which would eventually make him feel unimportant and out of the family. And of course children are extremely sensitive when it comes to any changes at home, and changes in family structure can take their toll. If it is not handled in a proper fashion, this can cause tremendous negative impacts on their personality. I believe that the end result of the death of Kenzie and her baby was because of the unstable structure at home and it caused Jordan to
snap.
At the initial hearing in which the case presented itself, I felt as if the courts were way too strict to hold the case in an adult court room. Jordan was eleven years old at the time of the crime, how can a judge rule the defendant guilty with a sentence of life without parole? At age eleven? How young is too young to be convicted of murder? I believe that Jordan should be kept in a psychiatric mental institution and get mental evaluations until treatment and medication proves that he is no longer a danger to himself or society and base his release time off of that. After the trial had been successfully moved into the juvenile court room, I feel as if the Judges final verdict was more than reasonable. Jordan will now face up to ten years in a juvenile detention center where he will receive all the treatment and medication he needs to get better.
Works Cited
Canning, Andrea. "Jordan Brown Murder Case Takes Emotional Toll." Abcnews.go.com. N.p., 28 Apr. 2010. Web.
Chenn, Stephania. "Boy,12, Faces Grown Up Murder Charges." Cnn.com. N.p., 15 Mar. 2010. Web.
Crimesider Staff. "Jordan Brown, Boy Accused of Murder At Age 11, Found Guilty." Cbsnews.com. N.p., 13 Apr. 2012. Web.
Houy, Lori. "Pa. Superior Court Reverses Ruling in Jordan Brown Case." Wpxi.com. N.p., 9 May 2013. Web.
Mandak, Joe. "Jordan Brown Guilty: 11-Year Old Murdered Dad 'S Pregnant Fiance, Judge Rules." Huffingtonpost.com. N.p., 13 Apr. 2012. Web.